Nathan Lane Unseats Citigroup’s Marc Weill in TriBeCa Duplex

Having survived several years as a resident of Los Angeles, 43-year-old actor Nathan Lane will be taking up residence in New York’s Little Hollywood later this year. Near the end of August, Mr. Lane signed a $1.695 million contract for a 3,000-square-foot condominium apartment on N. Moore Street in TriBeCa–on the now-infamous block near Varick Street where John F. Kennedy Jr. lived–according to real estate sources. His deal is expected to become final by the end of September, just a few months before he will begin rehearsals for Wiseguys , a new Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim.

Mr. Lane’s duplex apartment had been the home of Marc Weill, the 42-year-old son of Citigroup Inc. chairman Sanford Weill and chief executive at Travelers Investment Group. According to a source, Mr. Weill leased the place for $8,500 per month from an Asian corporate trust for two years. His lease expired at the end of July.

The fifth- and sixth-floor apartment has two bedrooms, a library, three baths, double-height ceilings in the living room and arched palladium windows. The property, purchased by the Asian corporation in April 1997 for $916,500, went on the market on Aug. 1 for $1.695 million. Kyle Eastwood, son of Clint Eastwood, purchased a third-floor apartment in the building the same month for $1.008 million. MTV Networks chief executive Tom Freston moved in a few doors down in 1994. Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel both own places a few blocks away on Hudson Street. The headquarters of Mr. De Niro’s TriBeca Films and of Oscar heavyweights Miramax are both located nearby on Greenwich Street.

Real estate sources said Mr. Lane, who is paying the full asking price for the N. Moore Street condominium, requested a speedy purchase process. His imminent return to the stage may have something to do with that: Next spring, the actor is slated to star in the Broadway production of Wiseguys , which is based on the lives of Addison and Wilson Mizner, brothers who made a fortune in Florida real estate. The show will co-star Victor Garber and Debra Monk and will be directed by Sam Mendes, who also did the recent production of Cabaret .

Mr. Lane, whose film roles have ranged from a gay cabaret owner in The Birdcage to a sarcastic mongoose in The Lion King , was born in Jersey City, N.J., and has been in and out of New York his whole life. He’s usually on stage: in Guys and Dolls in 1992 and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1996, for which he won a Tony. Mr. Lane’s agent did not return calls by press time.

UPPER EAST SIDE

399 East 72nd Street (Eastview House)

Three-bed, two-bath, 1,550-square-foot postwar co-op.

Asking: $650,000.

Selling: $610,000.

Charges: $1,595; 50 percent tax-deductible.

Time on the market: nine months.

FAMILY PILES INTO LIMO WITH $610,000. When the real estate market was tanking in the early 90’s, Bob Manzari, self-described former “foreclosure king,” found a businessman a bargain–a one-bedroom apartment in Eastview House, 399 East 72nd Street near First Avenue that was being sold by a bank. The single businessman used the apartment Monday through Friday and fled the city via the Long Island Expressway on the weekends. Last year, the executive got a little greedy and with his bloated bank account purchased the two-bedroom apartment next door to his little bargain. But midway through renovating the two apartments into one big millennial lair it seems he found even more greed. As the real estate market broke new records, he pulled the plug on the construction and put the unfinished 1,550-square-foot apartment up for sale for $650,000. About that time, broker Penny Pear was on a shotgun tour of Upper East Side three-bedroom apartments with a family from out of town. “We got into a limousine filled with Coca-Colas and went from apartment to apartment,” recalled Ms. Pear, who showed the family seven apartments in one day. “It was a number situation. They wouldn’t pay a penny over $650,000.” Perhaps because of the mess the family got the businessman’s apartment for $40,000 less. Broker: Corcoran Group (Bob Manzari and Bonnie McCartney; Penny Pear).

1175 York Avenue (York River House)

Two-bed, two-bath, 1,500-square-foot postwar co-op.

Asking: $795,000. Selling: $775,000.

Charges: $1,302; 64 percent tax-deductible.

Time on the market: one week.

IT’S LEGAL: ATTORNEYS TRADE $775,000 CO-OP. An attorney and a bond trader put their two-bedroom, two-bath apartment on York Avenue on the market for $795,000 after they decided to move to Virginia. One week later, as the attorney was preparing to transfer to a Washington-area firm, the apartment was snagged by two other lawyers who negotiated $20,000 off the asking price. The place, which boasts three exposures and a roof deck with even better East River views, appealed to the new owners because of its proximity to the F.D.R. Drive and the airports. They’ll move in after some slight tinkering with the decor. Broker: D.J. Knight (Susan Westring).

UPPER WEST SIDE

Central Park South near Seventh Avenue

Two-bed, 2.5-bath, 1,700-square-foot co-op.

Asking: $1.1 million. Selling: $925,000.

Charges: $1,739; 30 percent tax-deductible.

Time on the market: one day.

CZAR OF CENTRAL PARK SOUTH. Back in November, 1997, a Russian man put his two-bedroom apartment on Central Park South on the market for $1.075 million and he and his family moved to a three-bedroom penthouse at the Bromley, a condominium building on West 83rd Street. Despite the Central Park South two-bedroom apartment’s 1980’s decor–lots of gold and glitz–the owner was unable to secure a deal until he rented the place to an accountant and her husband for $6,000 per month earlier this year. The one-year lease stipulated that for six months, the tenants would have dibs on purchasing the place when the owner put it back on the market, which he did for $1.1 million. After knocking $85,000 off the asking price, they did. Broker: Gumley Haft Kleier Inc. (Barbara Kniffen).

180 West 93rd Street

Two-bed, two-bath, 1,200-square-foot prewar co-op.

Asking: $355,000. Selling: $365,000.

Charges: $843; 65 percent tax-deductible.

Time on the market: six months.

BABY BUST! A single man on the Upper West Side–it’s just not done! In the case of the owner of a 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom corner apartment at 180 West 93rd Street, on Amsterdam Avenue, he lasted less than a year before fleeing the strollers and play dates for Horatio Street in the West Village. Even then, he couldn’t avoid the breeding grounds–there’s probably a child safety issue where first-floor co-ops are concerned. Finally, two bidders emerged and some parents in the making–an opera singer and a voice-over artist–paid the single guy $365,000. While the opera singer was promising members of the co-op board that he was not averse to rehearsing with a pillow over his face, his wife became pregnant. Broker: Bellmarc Realty (Garcia Martin; MaryJo Palumbo).

CHELSEA

223 West 21st Street

Two-bed, one-bath, 700-square-foot prewar co-op.

Asking: $349,000. Selling: $340,000.

Charges: $435; 55 percent tax-deductible.

Time on the market: two weeks.

BANKER TRADES THE KITCHEN FOR MORE CLOSETS. An Italian banker wanted nothing more than transoms, moldings and oversize windows. When the West Village failed to satisfy him, he found a railroad-style, two-bedroom apartment near Seventh Avenue. He and his live-in girlfriend purchased the top-floor apartment for $340,000. The light there is very flattering to the apartment’s prewar details, but there is one downside: shallow, cupboard closets. But no matter: the buyers have concocted a renovation scheme that allows for both a bigger living area and a large, walk-in closet in exchange for a slightly smaller kitchen. Broker: Corcoran Group (Meredith Hatfield).

GREENWICH VILLAGE

60 East Eighth Street (Georgetown Plaza)

One-bed, one-bath, 950-square-foot postwar cond-op.

Asking: $375,000. Selling: $375,000.

Charges: $840; 50 percent tax-deductible.

Time on the market: one day.

CLASS OF 2003 CASHES IN. It has never been easier to separate large sums of money from your parents. A New York University freshman from Connecticut acquired this 950-square-foot apartment with one bedroom and one bath after his parents cased the Village, hoping to spend less than $200,000 on something near campus, and finally dropping $375,000 without negotiating a penny. Strangely, the 1960’s high-rise near Broadway, where Junior will settle on the 20th floor, is called Georgetown Plaza. Broker: Corcoran Group (Mary Anne Cotter).